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CNET Editors' Rating

The GoodThe Sony STR-DN1020 has built-in networking, allowing it to stream Slacker and Internet radio, along with digital music on your home network, over DLNA. It's also the only AV receiver in this price range to include an external iPod dock.

The BadAll competing receivers offer more HDMI inputs. The STR-DN1020 also has fewer streaming-media services than competitors and lacks built-in AirPlay, and its subpar graphical user interface makes its networking features less attractive. We also found its sound quality put it a step behind other midrange receivers.

The Bottom LineThe Sony STR-DN1020 isn't a bad AV receiver, but it lags behind its competitors in just about every attribute we consider important.

Sony AV receivers can be unpredictable, going from best in class one year to mediocre the next. The STR-DN1020 is Sony's midrange model for 2011, and it's underwhelming. It has fewer HDMI inputs than all of its competitors, it lacks the built-in AirPlay upgrade available on competing Denon and Pioneer options, and its paltry selection of streaming-media services is beaten by Onkyo and Yamaha. We'd be willing to accept those shortcomings if they were made up for with outstanding sound quality, but the STR-DN1020 was a step behind other midrange receivers to our ears. The STR-DN1020 doesn't have a deal-breaking flaw, but its competitors are better in every way that counts.

Design
Like other AV receivers, the STR-DN1020 is a large black box. Its design is cluttered, with three knobs and plenty of small buttons scattered on the front panel. Considering the fact that we hardly ever use the front-panel buttons on our AV receiver, we'd prefer a more minimalist look. While we generally don't care that much about the aesthetics of AV receivers, the design of the STR-DN1020 certainly looks less refined and thoughtful than that of the competing Denon AVR-1912.

We did appreciate the STR-DN1020's front-panel USB port, which allows you to directly connect an iPhone or iPod via USB.

Remote and remote apps

The included remote is decent, but the volume rocker is inconveniently located.

The included remote for the STR-DN1020 is decent, which is more than we can say about most AV receiver remotes. We liked the large white buttons toward the top of the remote. Unfortunately, those buttons also have secondary functions written in pink above them, which makes things somewhat confusing for anyone not already schooled in the language of receiver remotes. Also, the volume rocker--arguably the most important button--is placed far too low on the remote.

Sony's Media Remote app is fine for duplicating remote functions, but it's not as well thought out as competitors' remote apps.

The STR-DN1020 can also be controlled by Sony's Media Remote application, available for both Android and iOS. While other manufacturers have created apps designed specifically for AV receivers, Sony's app can be used to control several types of Sony home AV products, which makes it not particularly suited to controlling the STR-DN1020. Whereas Onkyo's remote app is smartly designed so you almost never need to look at the graphical user interface (GUI) on your TV, Sony's app functions more like an app version of the physical remote, forcing you to frequently look back and forth between your phone and your TV. We doubt we'd use the Media Remote app frequently.

User interface
Sony was originally one of the innovators in adding GUIs to AV receivers, but the STR-DN1020 doesn't reflect that. While the STR-DN1020's GUI is decent for simple functions like assigning inputs, it's very cumbersome when using more advanced networking and streaming functions.

The STR-DN1020's user interface strangely takes up only a fraction of the screen.

The interface is so cramped that you can only see two menu choices at a time.

One of the biggest issues is that the GUI doesn't make good use of the screen space. All the menus are cramped into a small box in the middle of the screen, which doesn't leave enough room for most functions.

For example, navigating Internet radio (vTuner) functions is incredibly tedious. If you browse stations by location, you can only see a measly two locations at a time and are forced to scroll to see more choices. And even when you finally get something to play, the GUI shows a scrolling message at the bottom to "Press DISPLAY to view the information." Not only is that message somewhat cryptic, but there's no reason seeing full artist and song information should require a button press. (When you do press Display, the song and artist information is displayed in only 10 characters at a time, which scroll leftward to reveal the rest of the info.) The experience with Slacker is no better. And there's no album art displayed, as there is on competing models.

Sony's suite of streaming services is already meager compared with others, and the lousy interface makes the services that are included difficult to use.

Features

Key AV receiver features

Channels

7.1

Analog video upconversion

1080p

Graphical user interface

Yes

Automatic speaker calibration

Yes

Warranty

2-year

The Sony STR-DN1020 has all the key features we expect at this price level, including a two-year warranty, which is a year longer then Pioneer offers for the competing VSX-1021-K.

iPod/iPhone features chart

AirPlay

No

Connect iPod/iPhone via USB

Yes

iOS remote app

Yes

Proprietary iPod dock

Included

The main missing feature here is AirPlay, which is available on the competing Denon AVR-1912 and Pioneer VSX-1021-K. While we generally think AV receivers make for poor media streamers, AirPlay is one of the few worthwhile network features, allowing you to wirelessly stream audio from virtually any app on an iOS device.

Like other midrange receivers, the STR-DN1020 lets you connect an iPod or iPhone directly to the USB input. The STR-DN1020 is unique in that it includes an iPod dock, although we're not sure why Sony went through the trouble when you can also connect an iPod or iPhone directly via USB.

HDMI features

HDMI version

1.4

3D pass-through

Yes

Audio return channel

Yes

Standby pass-through

Yes

This year, all of the midrange receivers we've tested support the major new HDMI features, including the handy standby pass-through mode, which allows the receiver to pass audio and video signal to a TV even when the receiver is off. No midrange receiver that we've seen so far supports HDMI Ethernet Channel.

Video connectivity

HDMI inputs

4

Component video inputs

2

Composite video inputs

4

Max connected HD devices

6

Video connectivity--or more specifically, HDMI connectivity--is a weakness for the STR-DN1020. Every competing AV receiver has at least five HDMI inputs, with most having six, so Sony's four seems particularly paltry.

Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Steve currently reviews audio products for CNET and works as a freelance writer for Home Theater, Inner Fidelity, Tone Audio, and Stereophile.
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